Barry M Sugar Plum Gelly Summer 2015 Release

Good morning! Last week when browsing Superdrug (as I do faaar too often!) I was stunned to see a selection of brand new Speedy Dry shades and a beautiful new Gelly. It seems that Barry M and Models Own are releasing brand new collections and shades every other week at the minute which, whilst not great for my bank balance, I am absolutely loving! I managed to resist too much temptation and settled for the Summer Gelly (Sugar Plum) and one of the new Speedy Dry shades (Get Set Go). 

Today I'm going to show you Sugar Plum. Pinks, purples and typically girly colours are my ultimate faves. Sugar Plum is a beautiful light magenta. A real mix of pink and purple tones. I was curious as to whether Barry M would have introduced the much adored flat brush (first seen in their Spring Pastels Speedy Dry collection) however the brush is traditional Barry M. 

As with all Gellies, the finish is ultra glossy. The formula was easy to apply and the images show 2 coats. I never use a top coat on my Gelly polishes as they are so shiny anyway! 

At first, I thought this was a real one-off in my collection, more mature and subdued than my typical bright pinks, but then I spotted a very similar bottle hiding in my drawer. Model's Own Spring 2015 Hypergel release Persian Pink looks almost identical in the bottle. Fortunately, when swatched you can see that Persian Pink is lighter than Sugar Plum, so it wasn't a complete waste of money!

Overall, I really like Sugar Plum, I can see myself wearing it on my nails a lot over Summer and even into Autumn and Winter. 

Sugar Plum and the new Speedy Dry shades are available in Superdrug stores now, and in Boots stores from the 13th May. Both Superdrug and Boots currently have Barry M on a Buy 1 Get the 2nd Half Price offer so now's the perfect time to add to your collection!

What do you think of Barry M's new Gelly? 
Let me know in the comments below.

Imogen x

My Models Own Collection...

As mentioned previously I don't just love the polishes, I love pretty much everything Models Own release. From Artstix and nail art pens, to eyeliners and make up sponges, Models Own are fantastic!

I decided to see just how many polishes I'd collected over the past few years and was quite surprised by what I saw! I am known for sticking to pink nails 9 times out of 10, so there's no surprise that the majority of my polishes are pinks. What was surprising was the amount of greens and darks I'd amassed. It may not look like many but I so rarely wear green on my nails that I didn't even realise I had a few different shades!

My favourite collection has to be the Hypergel range (I love almost every colour of the 30 polishes they've released so far) but my favourite polish is probably Wonderland, Shades or Sundress. 

What's your favourite Models Own polish?

Models Own can be found online at www.modelsownit.com, in Superdrug stores across the country and in super cool Bottleshops across the world.

The polishes usually retail at £4.99 but Models Own are currently on 3 for 2 at Superdrug! 

Please see http://www.modelsownit.com/stockists for the full range of stockists. 

Imogen x

My First Trip to a Models Own Bottleshop!

For months I have been envious of all the cities which are lucky enough to call themselves home to a Models Own Bottleshop. Living in Manchester you'd think it would be easy to source Models Own nail polish yet it can be surprisingly difficult! 

In the summer when Models Own had disappeared from Boots stores and was being introduced to Superdrug there was not one store in central Manchester which had Models Own in stock; even the Trafford Centre's Superdrug was awaiting its stand. Fortunately now the larger Superdrug stores have a decent selection to choose from but that doesn't stop my jealousy!

Superdrug stand Manchester

I'd been meaning to visit a Bottleshop for ages but always felt they were too far away. However, to my surprise it was only around a 45 minute drive to White Rose shopping centre in Leeds. 
I'd seen images of Bottleshops online many times but that didn't stop my excitement going into overdrive when I first spotted the iconic Models Own logo. The Bottleshop was beautiful. When I first entered I was greeted by a very knowledgeable and friendly sales assistant who gave me a free Black Kohl Eyeliner Pencil which retails at £3.99 (not sure if this always happens but still, winner!). 

Photo credit: www.modelsownit.com

The Bottleshop had plenty of polishes in stock, including the new Spring Hypergels and the hugely popular Colour Chrome range. There are colours for everyone and stock of Models Own many non-polish accessories too! One thing that really caught my eye were the exclusive collection boxes as I'd never seen those before. There was a set of Diamond Luxe, Pastels vs. Neon and also some of the early Hypergels. These collections are beautiful, and at £30.00 for 10 polishes an absolute steal!

After much debate I decided to make the most of the 5 for £20.00 offer and purchase Colour Chrome in Rose and Indigo and three of the new Spring Hypergels; Paradise Pink, Powder Blue and Prude Nude. Even better still, my purchase came in a beautiful neon Models Own bag which was very cute!

I loved every part of my Bottleshop experience and can't wait to visit again!

Imogen x

Modelsownit.com Nail Polish and Accessories Haul!

I am a HUGE fan of Models Own polishes. I first noticed them when I worked at Boots a few years ago and have followed their journey ever since. They have colours for everyone, release collections regularly and are particularly great at releasing lots of my beloved pinks!

One thing I especially love about Models Own however is their annual 50% off sale. I remember a few years ago trying to get all my friends and family to like their Facebook page as they were going to announce a sale once they reached 100,000 likes. They now boast a very impressive 280,000 likes which just shows how much their fan base has grown. 

I've attached some images of my Models Own sale haul from last month. You may notice that there aren't too many polishes actually there but I am just as in love with Models Own's accessories as I am with the cute little bottles!

One of my favourite accessories are the tweezers. I bought these same tweezers a while back, before it came with the storage container, and they are the best tweezers I've ever used. They have a slanted head which make them incredibly precise compared to tweezers I've used in the past which can barely grab the hairs. 

Something I've purchased yet haven't tried before is the Nail Art Tool Kit. I'm really excited to give this a go and will make sure to share a review when I do!

Let me know in the comments if you managed to grab anything too!

Imogen x

Colour B4 Review inc. before and after pics!

I am a huge fan of hair dye both at home and at the salon. Most of the time my hair is a very dark brown with mahogany/ warm red tones which is a really difficult colour to try and go blonde from! So many times I have been to the hairdressers and been told that 'tint can't lift tint' and I've ended up having to go to the salon around 7 or 8 times to achieve any kind of blonde.

This time however I wanted to go blonde within a really short space of time so decided to do it myself.

Colour B4 is a hair colour remover aimed at people wanting to turn back the clock and rid an unwanted hair colour. It is sold at Boots, Superdrug and Bodycare and comes in regular and Xtra. Regular is designed for people only wanting a subtle change or quite a simple removal whereas Xtra is more for those with dark hair as it is more difficult to lift.
i have used Colour B4 once before to lift black hair to a mid brown and it worked great so I thought id use it again. I bought Colour B4 Xtra rather than regular as I wanted quite a drastic result.

The mixture is quite thin so I found it quite hard to apply in terms of being sure that I'd covered everywhere. The mixture can be left on for 60 minutes for optimum results so that's what I did! It smells truly terrible and it's advised that you have all windows closed during application and development time so be warned! I also applied cling film to my hair and heated it with a hair dryer for around 5 minutes to speed the process up. Once the hour was up I proceeded to rinse it off. The recommended rinsing process is quite time consuming (around 15 minutes) but its worth it just to ensure its all off properly.

I left my hair to dry naturally and was impressed with the result! The box states that it can only take you back to your natural colour if that's the lightest your hair has been (for example, if you dyed your natural mousy brown hair black it could restore that), however I have bleached my hair many times over the years and so my hair turned a kind of copper colour. I never expected it to go blonde, I just wanted a really high lift so that my hair would be easier to work with! See pictures below, the top one is the end result, the middle my hair colour before and the bottom one the result of using Colour B4:) x

Welcome!

Hello.. to anyone who may ever read this!
I have decided to create this blog after years of obsessing over hair, make-up and nails. I am often stood in the hair dye isle of Boots or on the ground floor of Debenhams for waay too long hesitating over purchases and feel that it would be nice for me to share my finds with others.

Often when buying a nail polish or lipstick I have a quick browse online to see if I can find a few swatches and if I can add to the collection of swatches already out there and help people to see if they would truly like a product then I'll be happy!

The blog will focus on nail polishes by a variety of brands, cosmetics (particularly Clinique, Estee Lauder, MAC, No7, Benefit and brands found in Superdrug/Boots) and haircare products including shampoos, conditioners, intensive repair treatments and even hair extensions and hair dyes!


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